Wind storm claims two lives in Clark County

By MATT THACKER
Matt.Thacker@newsandtribune.com

September 16, 2008 11:43 am

— Two people are dead, others injured, and tens of thousands are without power as people are left to clean up damage left by the remnants of Hurricane Ike in Clark County.
Amy L. Rader, 36, of Memphis, and Francis Eickholtz, 62, of Charlestown, both died from blunt-force trauma, said Clark County Coroner Edwin “Huck” Coots.
Eickholtz was standing in his yard along the 900 block of Monroe Street when he was struck by a falling branch Sunday evening and was pronounced dead at St. Catherine Regional Hospital about 7:40 p.m.
Maj. Chuck Adams of the Clark County Sheriff’s Department said Rader’s death was a “freak accident” and not directly related to the storm. She was at a friend’s home off of Columbus-Mann Road in Memphis. Her friend had just cut down a tree when another tree that was partially dead fell and struck her, Adams said. She died about 11:50 a.m. Monday at Clark Memorial Hospital.
Adams said another woman was seriously injured after a tree fell on her vehicle near the fire tower at the Clark County State Forest in Henryville. Another woman reportedly had serious injuries in Jeffersonville after being hit by falling debris.
As of 9 a.m. today, the Indiana Department of Homeland Security was reporting 19 storm-related injuries and seven fatalities in Indiana.
Adams said a take-home police car for the Sheriff’s Department also was damaged by a fallen tree at an officer’s house.
James Vittitoe, who recently started his own contracting company, said he made a lot of money Sunday night, but had to work on his own home Monday. A tree had been uprooted, and a large branch fell from another tree causing damage to the house, which is on East Eighth Street in Jeffersonville.
“The trees alone are probably $800, then there’s a limb stuck through the roof, and you have the shingles, siding damage and the fence is knocked down. It’s going to cost a lot,” he said.
On the 600 block of Chippewa Drive, one tree damaged two houses and a truck and crushed a car that was parked in a driveway.
“It sounded like a cannon going off,” said T.J. Helms. “Pictures were coming off the walls. It was like an earthquake.”
The tree totaled Helms’ 1997 Lincoln Town Car and caused slight damage to his pickup truck and house. It also caused extensive damage to the second floor of his neighbor’s house.
Elaine Vanhorn’s garage along the 400 block of East Terrace Heights was crushed after a tree fell in her yard. She believes the garage is completely destroyed, but her 1991 Corvette inside was spared. As of Monday afternoon, a section of the tree was hanging on a power line in Vanhorn’s back yard.
“Everyone’s concern is, how much can that power line take,” she said.
She said she had reported it to Duke Energy Co., but they had not been out to her house. Even with the problems, she was thankful for the help of her neighbors.
“We have a great neighborhood,” she said. “Everybody’s pitched in and helped everybody else.”
Barbara Bridgwater, who lives on the 3700 block of Scottsville Road in Floyds Knobs, echoed those thoughts. She said she returned home about five minutes after a tree crashed into her house.
“Someone actually pulled in my driveway in front of me to make sure no one was in the house and injured,” she said. “People have been stopping by to see if they can help. This brings out the good in people.”
She did not know how much the damage would cost.
Marie Huth, who also lives on Scottsville Road, said she had lived in that home for 52 years.
“I have never seen wind like that before,” she said. “We were really lucky to not have more damage.”
The Clark County Red Cross was taking in people without power at the First Christian Church of Jeffersonville at 3209 Middle Road. The Red Cross decided this morning to close the shelter.
Lorie Nevils, chairperson of the kitchen ministry for the church, said the church had 23 volunteers, and the Red Cross had about 15. She said they served 81 plates Sunday night and 41 Monday morning.
About 20 people came from Haven House, a local homeless shelter, which was without power.

FOOD AND WATER SAFETY
Health officials are recommending residents affected by the recent wind storms follow the following guidelines for food and water safety during disasters.

Power outages
• Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature. The refrigerator will keep food cold for about four hours if it is unopened. A full freezer will keep the temperature for approximately 48 hours, and a half-full freezer will keep temperature for approximately 24 hours, if the door remains closed. Refrigerated food should not be warmer than 41 degrees, and frozen food should be frozen. Do not refreeze perishables.
• Buy dry or block ice to keep refrigerators as cold as possible during prolonged power outages. Fifty pounds of dry ice will keep an 18-cubic foot, fully-stocked freezer cold for two days, or a half-stocked freezer of the same size cold for one day.

Drinking water
• Purchase commercially bottled water or seek water at local shelters. During a boil water advisory you may disinfect your water 2 ways:
• Chlorination: add six drops of liquid chlorine household bleach to one gallon of water and mix. Check the label to ensure that the active ingredient, sodium hypochlorite, is 5.25 percent. Wait 30 minutes after adding chlorine before using water for drinking or cooking purposes.
• Boiling: The water may also be purified by boiling. Bring water to a full boil for at least five minutes. Cool and aerate the boiled water by pouring it through the air from one clean container to another, or mixing rapidly with a clean whisk.
— Clark County Red Cross

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